Barong and Keris Dance - Batubulan, Bali, Indonesia

Barong enters the courtyard prancing to the rhythm of the gamelan ensemble

A tour to Bali isn't complete without attending the many cultural performance around the island. The Barong and Keris dance is one of the performance we attended in Batubulan. Although, it is hard to understand the whole epic, still it is worth watching the colorful play and listening to the smooth gamelan music throughout the show. 

The traditional gamelan musicians accompanying the performance

The dance is about a battle between the good and evil. Interestingly, the whole dance-drama brought together the element of religion, history and mythology into play which they believe that the reality of the world is all about good and bad.  

It was an enjoyable show to watch but not for a faint heart as the characters played are very strong and at some point the music and the dance can  increase the heart beat.  We took the seats in the first row and at times the sound of the Barong and Rangada thumping on the grounds with bells ringing furiously took us by surprise. 

On the whole, I think this is a powerful dance that draws our eyes and sight to their movement.  There're actually other places where the same dance is on show but the one in Batubulan is said to be the best in the island.  This is definitely a must-see when you are in Bali. The ticket is 100,000 Rupiah.

The servants of Dewi Kunti 

Eyes movement is the key element of the Bali dancing

Servants of Dewi Kunti clad in colorful costumes

Sadewa, the son of Dewi Kunti  - a female acting the role of a male

Sadewa with the servants

In anger

A playact to entertain the audience

Sadewa is going to fight the Barong

The evil spirit, Rangada, in wrath

The Barong men tries to kill Rangada but failed and they killed themselves

They died

Some of the Barong followers were in trance

Bathing for Purification - Titra Empul, Tampak Siring, Bali, Indonesia

The locals bathing in holy water of Titra Empul to purify themselves

Registered at UNESCO Heritage Site 6th July, 2012

Titra Empul Pura or also known as Tampak Siring Temple is a holy spring temple in Gianyar district. We stopped at the temple on our way back from Mount Batur. It happened to be a day after the celebration of Kuningan and hence, the temple was full of the locals bathing to purify themselves.  The water is also believed to have healing properties. There were some foreigners joining the event.

It was interesting to watch so many Hindu devotes queuing to enter the pool and we were among the many tourists trying to capture the scene. Looking at how devoted are the Bali Hindus towards their religion, I'm keen to know if there are rule breakers among these people. Our guide told us that it is almost impossible to breach the rules and tradition as there are cultural police who make sure that each and every Balinese observed their religion and culture closely and faithfully. In any circumstances if the people break the law, they will be punished.

People came with their traditional costume (baju adat)

Entrance to the temple

The crowd splash into the pool

Queuing to get closer to the spring source 

Spring water flows into the pool

There was a long queue to enter the pool

The pond in the temple is full of fish

The wrath of Merapi - Mount Merapi, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

The 2010 eruption taken from  the hanging pictures in the stall at Kaliadem

Since 1548, Mount Merapi has erupted 68 times and the recent eruptions on 26 October, 2010 claimed 324 lives. In Javanese “Merapi” means “Mountain of Fire” and true enough it is the most active and unpredictable volcano in Indonesia. On April 5th, 2013, about two years and five months after the eruption, we had the opportunity to visit the villages around the slope of Merapi. Our family in Sleman, Yogyakarta drove us to Kaliurang and finally to Kaliadem village, about 25 km north of Yogyakarta. Kaliadem is as far as we could used our own transportation. The rest of the journey has got to be done with the willy jeep which costs us 350,000 Rupiah and we rented a motorbike for 150,000 Rupiah. 

The houses were abandoned and never rebuilt

Merapi eruption has brought new income to the villagers, eco-tourism is flourishing after 26th October, 2010. As we rode on the willy jeep, the driver, a young lad retold the traumatic story of the 2010 eruptions. The ride was really very bumpy that it disturbed our concentration on his story. We passed through a few villages on the slope of Merapi and Kaliadem is just 5 km from the peak of Merapi and Kinahrejo is only 4 km away. Although, the catastrophe hit the area more than 2 years ago, the process of rebuilding has been very slow. 

The ruins

We drove further to see the ecological impact of the eruptions.  The area around Merapi has not recovered and few hamlets had been destroyed by the pyroclastic flow  lava. Today, Gendol river  is dried and the hamlet, Brogangsuruh located 15 meter from the river had disappeared.  The 3 meter high reinforced concrete embankment built by the villagers could not stop the hot lava flowing at the speed of 300 km per hour and the temperature at 600 degrees centigrade  from over flowing and engulfing the hamlet. After the disappearance of River Gendol and River Krasak, the area is faced with serious water problem.

By 5th. November, 2010 it was reported that Merapi had released 50 million cubic meters of volcanic materials. 2o km around Merapi was declared a danger zone covering areas in Klaten, Magelang and Sleman. On the slopes of Merapi, we saw the recent economic activities of many sand miners. Digging and transporting the lava sand is a big business in the area. The area is almost flooded with lorries and diggers working.  I'm not sure how safe is this activity as we could still see smokes emerging from the soil and I can feel the irritation on my skin after visiting the area. For a moment, the wrath of Merapi has subsided but it will return and may bring greater devastation.

The forest has gone and Gendol River filled with sand

The river vanished

Huge lava rocks lying around

Most part of Merapi slopes are still bare

The route we went through

Trying to build their lives from donation

Smoke appearing from the lava sand 

The 10 meters gorge once cut through the forest is now filled with lava sand

The areas are covered with smoke though 2 years have passed

Fine lava sand forming the path

The process of transporting the lava sand

Lorry filled with the lava sand

Sand miners activities

The path of the lava flow from Merapi

New source of income for the workers

Piles of sand and rocks - future prosperity for  the people

Workers at work with no concern on the impact of their health 

Busy at work

A villager goes on with her daily activities

Life goes on...